The Assistant Genius
by Vina Pike
Summary: 1st in series: MacGyver gets a computer security assistant who is as brilliant with computers as he is with everything else.


****

MacGyver

"The Assistant Genius"

Revised 4/23/04 (Only to change act breaks.)

****

by Vina Pike

****

Introduction

This story is written in treatment format for a one-hour television drama. It is based on the series MacGyver, set in the time frame of the sixth-seventh season (1990-2). I do not own the MacGyver characters and this story is intended for fan fiction only. Note about the computer technology: though researched, it may not be entirely accurate and is also meant to be in keeping with the time frame of the late 1980s/early 1990s.

****

Act 1/Scene 1

MacGyver is on a large, open field that is used for testing explosives for the Phoenix Foundation projects. He is currently setting up testing for electronic detonators. Randi Brennan is being walked out to meet Mac at the site by another young man, named Greg, who works for the Phoenix Foundation. Randi is a petite brunette in her late 20s. She is attractive, though not in a traditionally glamorous way, but she is not a typical computer geek either. She tends to dress casually, preferring jeans, though she is in a nice pantsuit for the job interview. She wears her very long, nearly black hair pulled up in a high ponytail and has a slight Native American ethnic look.

"So, you've been recommended by Pete Thornton for MacGyver's computer assistant?" he says.

"Yeah, he said they need someone who's a computer security specialist. I guess MacGyver knows a lot about security and a lot about computers, but needs someone who specializes in both," Randi answers.

"Yeah," says Greg, "MacGyver knows a lot about everything. Actually, I was sort of hoping I might be considered for that position. But I saw your resume. There's no way I could compete with the kind of stuff you do."

"It's just a matter of experience," Randi says matter-of-factly. "I've been setting up and testing security systems for banks and medical databases for a few years. I'm sure you'll get there someday. I just hope I'm ready for a job where the security is a little more high-level. You know, handling all kinds of sensitive government data…kind of like spy stuff." She laughs.

Greg laughs too. "I'm sure you are. The test scores you got on your entry interview were phenomenal."

"Yeah, but that's from sitting behind a computer all the time," Randi says. "I'm gonna be out in the world, so to speak, a lot more in this job. That's kinda scary."

Randi stops as she sees MacGyver ahead, attractive 35ish with long, thick blond hair, wearing jeans and a plaid shirt working on a complicated-looking device with lots of cables and wires.

"So, what's this MacGyver like?" she asks Greg. "Is he tough to work for?"

"No, not at all," Greg answers. "But he's probably not what you're expecting. He's a little unorthodox."

Randi looks at Greg, not sure what to make of that statement, but smiles and indicates for him to lead on.

They approach Mac and stop within a few feet of him as he is setting up some complicated electronic connections to an explosive device. Randi watches him handle the wiring almost like a surgeon performing a delicate operation. His long, slender fingers trace the cable surfaces with an almost intimate precision.

"Hey Mac," Greg calls. "This is Randi Brennan. Pete sent her out to meet you as a candidate for that computer job. He says she's as brilliant with computers as you are with everything else." Greg smiles as he looks at Randi, who looks nervous.

Mac briefly turns to look in their direction, but is obviously absorbed in what he is doing. He turns in the direction of another young man a few yards away with the electronic detonation equipment and suddenly gets a horrified look on his face.

"No, Jimmy! Not yet!" he screams as he sees the young man squeezing a remote triggering device.

He suddenly dives toward Randi as he yells for Greg to "Get down!" They all hit the ground as the explosive charge is triggered, blowing dirt, leaves and brush over their heads. Randi finds herself face down on the ground underneath Mac with his arms wrapped around her and his hands protecting her head and face.

As the dust clears, he turns her toward him and gently brushes the hair from her ponytail out of her face. As their eyes meet, Mac is somewhat embarrassed. "Oh my God, are you all right?"

"I think I'll live," she answers as he helps her up, still holding her arms as he turns quickly to Greg and asks "Are you all right?"

"Sure. Geez, Mac, I bring you a job candidate and you 'bout blow her up!"

Mac turns back to Randi, looking more closely at her for the first time as he slides his hands down her arms till he is holding her hands. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry…Are you sure you're all right?"

Randi looks down at her dusty clothes then looks back up into his eyes. There is an obvious connection as their eyes meet. "Uh, sure. I'm fine. I'm not so sure about my suit, though." She smiles as she attempts to brush off some of the dirt and dust.

Mac smiles as he finally lets go of her hands and indicates her suit. "We'll buy you a new one," he laughs. "I'm really sorry about this…" he says and breaks off, still looking into her eyes.

Randi is still looking into his eyes as she answers, "It's OK. Really."

"Well, you're a good sport…Randi, is it?"

The man from across the field approaches and begins profusely apologizing. Mac turns to him…"Jimmy, what did I tell you about blowing that charge? I said AFTER I radio you. Did I radio you?"

"Well, no, I guess not," Jimmy says sheepishly.

"You guess not?" says Mac.

"Well, I thought I heard something on the radio, but I guess it wasn't your signal. I guess I got carried away. I'm really sorry."

"Jimmy," Mac says, "I like your enthusiasm, but you gotta temper it just a little bit. OK?"

"OK, Mac. Sorry," Jimmy says.

Mac slaps him affectionately on the shoulder and sends him off to clean up the site. He motions for Greg to go and help him. "Go get it cleaned up and we'll set it up again tomorrow."

Mac turns to Randi as they start to walk back to where his car is parked. "You'll have to forgive Jimmy. He's a trainee in this vocational co-op program I'm working with. He's got a real aptitude for electronics, but he's a little over-enthusiastic sometimes. So, Pete sent you out here to talk to me, huh? He must be pretty impressed. I hope this little mess doesn't put you off working for us."

"No. Pete warned me about the kinds of things you guys deal with and that didn't manage to scare me off," Randi says, a little out of breath trying to keep up with Mac, a fact of which he seems oblivious. "So, I guess a little explosion won't make any difference."

Mac stops walking, turns toward her, puts out his hand to shake hers and says, "Great! You're hired."

She slowly puts her hand in his and shades her eyes from the sun as she looks up at him, "I'm hired? Don't you want to interview me? You haven't even seen my resume."

"I don't need to," Mac replies. "Pete wouldn't've sent you out here if he didn't think you were the right person for the job. That's good enough for me." He smiles as he shakes her hand and they walk on.

"So, what's Randi short for?" he asks as they get in his car.

"Miranda. But please don't call me that."

"You don't like it?" he asks.

"I just think it sounds a little too pretentious for me," she says.

"OK…I won't call you Miranda if you will call me Mac."

"OK, Mac."

****

Act 1/Scene 2

As they are driving in the car, Mac tries to engage her in conversation, but senses she is nervous.

"So, are you from L.A.?" he asks.

"No. I grew up near Kinlichee, Arizona," she answers.

"Kinlichee?" he pronounces it hesitantly. "I don't know it," he says.

"You wouldn't. It's on the Navajo reservation. It's really little," she answers, glancing at him and looking away.

"So, are you Navajo?" he asks, looking at her. "You do look a little bit Indian." He catches himself. "Uh, sorry, I should say Native American."

Randi looks at him. "That's OK. I'm not that politically correct. Besides, you'll find most Native Americans," she emphasizes the words, "at least the ones I know, call themselves Indians." She looks down again, then realizes he is waiting for her to continue.

"Really?" he asks.

"Yeah. Well, if you want to be really PC, Navajo are called Dine in their native language."

"Di—nay?" Mac repeats her pronunciation.

"Yeah. And to answer your question, I'm a quarter Navajo. My father was half Irish. Which is where the Brennan comes from. My grandfather actually came over here from Cork and taught at a Catholic mission school on the reservation. And, of course, married my Grandmother who was Navajo."

"And your mother…wasn't Dine?"

Randi looks at him cautiously, then smiles. "So, is this my interview after all?"

"No, no. You're hired. No question. I'm just trying to get to know you a little." He looks at her, trying to gauge her reaction. But her shy smile tells him she understands him.

"Oh, OK. My mother was just…American," Randi shrugs. "Scotch and German ancestors, I think."

"Was?" Mac continues.

"My parents are both dead. My Mom when I was 8 and my Dad when I was 14. My Dad's sister raised me and my older brother, but then she sent us to a mission school in Show Low after my Dad died."

"Well, we have that in common," Mac says. "I mean, my father died when I was pretty young and my mom's gone now too."

"So, we're both orphans," she says softly, stealing a glance at him as they pull into the parking garage at the Phoenix Foundation.

Mac turns to her and asks, "So, how did you get to be such a computer whiz?"

"Government scholarship programs," she shrugs. "I guess that's one good thing about growing up a poor orphan. You get a free education."

"Yeah, if you're smart enough," Mac says. "They're not just handed to you. You have to have pretty good grades to get the kind of scholarships you got."

"So, you have seen my resume," she smiles.

Mac grins at her as he opens his car door. "Yeah, I took a peek before you came in to see Pete."

****

Act 1/Scene 3

Mac, Pete and Randi are in the computer bay at the Phoenix Foundation as Pete explains an upcoming assignment.

"An old friend of mine wants us to check out the security of his computer network, " Pete explains. "He's got a data warehousing company and he's got some pretty sensitive information to protect. You and MacGyver will be our security testing team. But, what I want to do first, is test you two against each other. That'll tell me where your strengths are and where Mac's weaknesses are."

Randi glances at Mac who rolls his eyes in mock disgust, then smiles.

"Now that's because I already know his strengths," Pete continues. "I need to see how you two play out as team. Then I'll have you work together to design a series of tests for Michael Winters' system."

"OK," says Randi.

"Here's what we've done," explains Pete. "You've had some time to get familiar with our systems and analyze our security protocols. So, MacGyver has set up three dummy databases with different access security systems that we want you to break into. The first involves cracking a password. The next one involves getting through a firewall. And the last one has an intrusion detection system you'll have to get around. Then, we'll have you set up your own access security system on a dummy database and see if Mac can break in. OK?"

"OK." Randi sits down at the computer with Mac sitting across from her. Randi starts typing on the keyboard. She suddenly looks up at Mac with a bit of a dismayed look.

"What's wrong?" he asks.

****

Act 2/Scene 1

Randi is looking at Mac over her computer screen. "A static password? That's too easy," she says. She pulls out a disc from a little pouch full of discs she carries with her. She inserts the disc into the computer goes to work. After a few minutes, the computer screen flashes "Access Accepted." She pulls out the disc and holds it up. "My own little cracker program. Works like a charm. But password cracking is pretty basic."

"OK, OK," says Mac. "I had to start somewhere. Looks like you've got a whole arsenal of programs there," he indicates her disc pouch.

"Never leave home without it," she says and smiles at Mac.

"Now let's see how easily you can get through some firewalls," says Pete.

"Ready?" asks Mac and she nods. "Number two should be coming to your terminal now," as he types on his keyboard and a new screen appears on Randi's terminal.

"OK." She goes back to work on the keyboard. "Firewalls work fine if all network traffic flows through one central point…but an insider can most likely find a subnet that isn't monitored and get in through a back door."

Mac watches her as she works. "Good point. But I don't think that'll work," he says, "cause I put sensors on both the inside and outside of the firewall—"

"Whoa-ho!" shouts Pete who is standing behind Randi, watching her screen as it flashes "Access Accepted. "She did it, Mac."

Randi glances across at Mac who looks just a tiny bit perturbed. "Training database," she says to him.

"What?" he asks, looking dubious.

"Well, I figured you used the Foundation's training database to set up these simulations," she explains hesitantly. "But you probably didn't think of blocking that subnet with a firewall, so I was able to use it as a back door in."

"Oh," Mac says a little sheepishly.

"I told you she was good, Mac," says Pete.

"I know," Mac says and smiles at Randi. "OK, number three coming to your terminal now," he says as he types on his keyboard. "This one uses new Intrusion Detection software…which I configured myself." He gets up and walks around behind Randi so he can see her screen. He looks at Pete, who is grinning at him. "I gotta see this for myself," Mac says.

Randi begins typing. "OK, I see what you've done," she says. "This is a signature-based IDS, which means it has to possess an attack description that can be matched to a sensed attack. So, if you initiate an attack that it has no written rule for, it's not going to detect it. If I manipulate my attack data in a way that the IDS signature won't match to the packet it passes, but the receiving devise will still interpret it properly…"

Her screen shows "c:\phoenix\system32\netstat.exe."

"Like adding extraneous null characters to the string that the IDS won't recognize," she continues as she types: %2e%2e%2f%2e%2e%2fc:\phoenix\system32\netstat.exe. "But the server interprets it the same way and ignores the null characters…" The screen, however flashes "Attack Alert – Access Denied."

"Oops…" says Mac, trying not to grin too broadly. "I knew about that one."

Pete frowns slightly at Mac, who shrugs and tries to look innocent. "Well, my ego was taking a little bruising. At least I got her on something," Mac says.

Randi smiles up at him. "OK…that's good that you knew that. But that's not the only way to get past an IDS," she says as she begins typing again. "I can fragment the attack in multiple packets. It's normal for hosts to receive data in multiple packets, even in the wrong order, and then reassemble them in the correct order using the unique packet sequence number assigned to each packet. But the network IDS will only see the parts, and since each part is not an attack packet, the IDS won't alert." After working for a few minutes, "Access Accepted" flashes once again on the screen."

"Ohhh!" Mac groans as Pete laughs.

"I told you she was good, MacGyver," says Pete.

Randi turns to Mac and Pete. "I hope I didn't step on anyone's toes. You really do know your security systems," she says to Mac.

"But I don't know 'em as well as you do," Mac says, "and that's why we hired you." He smiles and steps up to Randi with his hand extended. "I was just kidding. Really," he says softly. She smiles and accepts his handshake. "Very impressive," he says. "I knew Pete would hire the right person for the job."

"Well thank you for giving me some credit," says Pete. "Qualified intrusion analysts are very hard to find. Now let's see what she comes up with for you to crack."

Mac rolls his eyes in mock disgust, then smiles at her.

"OK, Randi, how long do you need?" asks Pete. "Can you have something set up tomorrow?"

"I don't think I need that long. Give me a couple of hours. I can reconfigure some things on this IDS that should work."

"You got it," Pete says.

****

Act 2/Scene 2

Mac and Pete walk into the computer bay later that day as Randi is working at the terminal. She turns to them and says, "OK, all set." She gets up from the computer.

"OK, Mac," says Pete. "Let's see if you can break in."

Mac casts a glance at Randi, who looks a little nervous, then sits down at the computer and goes to work.

****

Act 2/Scene 3

Later that day, Mac is still sitting at the computer looking a little frustrated as Pete walks up to him and says, "Still at it, huh?" Mac leans back, stretches in his chair and looks at Pete who says, "She got you stumped?"

"Oh, I'm breaking in," says Mac. "But something kicks me back out every time I get in."

Just then Randi walks up. Mac turns toward her. "Hi," she says shyly. "Any luck?" Pete chuckles and turns to leave, saying "I'll let you two make your peace with each other."

"Hi," Mac answers and can't help smiling at her despite his frustration. "I don't know what you've got going on here, but it sure is driving me crazy."

"Giving up yet?" Randi asks, still looking a little nervous. Mac flashes her a smile, says "No, ma'am!" and turns back to the keyboard.

****

Act 2/Scene 4

Another hour or so later, Pete and Randi walk back to the computer bay where Mac is still sitting in front of the computer, rubbing his eyes. When they approach, he turns to them, gets up from the chair, goes to Randi and takes her hand. He raises it in the air, looks at Pete and says, "The winner!"

"Well, that's great," says Pete. "After all, if she can stump you, she can stump anybody. And that's what we wanted, right?"

Mac smiles at Randi. "All right, my dear, what did you do?"

Randi walks up to the computer and pulls up a log of entry attempts. She scans it briefly. "Well," she begins, "Knowing the inherent weakness of a signature-based IDS in detecting an unknown attack, I anticipated Mac would attempt some very good attacks the system had no rules for. But I didn't have time to really work on fixing that problem in the system, so I used a little program in my 'arsenal', as Mac calls it, as a temporary fix." She demonstrates on the computer as she explains it. "I set up the security protocol so that even if you find a way to bypass the IDS, you still have to put in a passcode. Now if you crack the passcode, as Mac did several times, this little program immediately nullifies that passcode and rotates to a new one."

"That's why I could get in, but it kept kicking me back out," Mac says. "So how do you get in?"

"Well, ideally, you could issue one-time, single-use passcode generating tokens to authorized network users and install one-time passcode reading software on your server. But right now I can just use part two of my program…" She inserts a disc into the computer. "This generates a one-time, single-use passcode that I can type in to disable the rotation sequence." An access code appears on the screen, she types it into the appropriate space and "Access Accepted" flashes on the screen.

Mac's eyes grow wide. "That's so simple, it's brilliant! How did you come up with that?"

Randi hesitates, then says, "I don't know. It just made sense."

Mac and Pete look at each other and start to laugh.

****

Act 2/Scene 5

Randi and Mac are walking down the hall in DataTect, the data warehousing company owned by Pete's friend.

"I bet you're glad to get out of that computer bay after sitting there analyzing our systems for almost two weeks. Pete's very happy with what you're doing, by the way" says Mac.

"That's good. I like Pete," she says. "But, yeah…I'm ready for a little more of a challenge. I get bored too easily."

"Me too," says Mac, smiling at her.

They turn into an office where two men are having somewhat of an argument. The owner, Michael Winters, is an older man around 55 with white hair and a fairly calm demeanor. The other man is the computer person who set up the security system, Kevin Green. While Kevin is in his late 20s, he is much younger looking and somewhat of a computer geek with a chip on his shoulder and a need to prove his abilities.

"I don't know why you think you need an outside consultant on this," Kevin is saying. "I've taken care of everything—even our own people couldn't break into my system."

The owner looks a bit frustrated as he turns toward Mac and Randi. "MacGyver? Hello, I'm Michael Winters."

"Mr. Winters," Mac shakes his hand, then turns toward the other man.

"This is Kevin Green," says Winters, "the designer of the system we want you to test."

"Mr. Green…" says Mac offering his hand. Green does not take his hand.

Mac handles the awkwardness gracefully by putting his unshaken hand on Randi's shoulder as he introduces her. "This is Randi Brennan, my assistant and computer security specialist."

"Hi. Nice to meet you," Randi answers and shakes Winters hand, but once again, Green does not offer his.

"This little girl is your computer genius?" he scoffs.

Randi stiffens, but Mac keeps his hand on her shoulder.

****

Act 3/Scene 1

"She looks about 16," Kevin Green says as he looks at Randi.

Keeping his hand on her shoulder, Mac says, "This _young woman_ is one of the best intrusion analysts the Phoenix Foundation has ever seen."

Winters steps in, "I'm sure she is, MacGyver. Kevin here is just a little put out that we want his system tested by an outside consultant. But with the highly sensitive data we house for our clients, we feel a second opinion, if you will, is warranted. And Pete Thornton is an old friend of mine. He agreed this was a good move and recommended you both very highly."

Green is still glowering as Mac says, "Great! We'd like to work with you, Mr. Green. We just want to help you make your system run smoothly. Wouldn't you agree that three heads are better than one?"

"Maybe," Green says casting a skeptical look at Randi. "Depending on the heads."

The look is not lost on Mac, who still keeps his hand protectively on Randi's shoulder. "Well, Randi has been able to find vulnerabilities in the Phoenix intrusion detection system we didn't even know we had."

"That's why I'm not so sure," says Green smugly. "This is not just an intrusion detection system—it's an intrusion prevention system. It's a lot more sophisticated…"

Mac looks at Randi questioningly. "All that means," she explains, "is that it's designed to not only detect an intrusion, but also to trigger specific actions to stop an attack."

Green laughs. "There's a little more to it than that. I've programmed this system to work with the building's security and operations systems. No one who initiates a network attack in here will even get out of the building."

"We do have a high security risk not just from hackers, but from customers, vendor partners and even disgruntled employees," says Winters. "And this is a large facility. It's difficult to keep track of everyone who comes and goes in spite of our building security measures. Kevin seems to think he has the answer with a sequence of attack responses programmed into the IDS."

"Wouldn't it be safer just to program the system to shutdown the network in case of an insider attack?" asks Randi.

Green steps forward as he raises his voice to her. "You don't know what you're talking about, Miss Brennan—"

"All right, all right…let's calm down," Mac intervenes. "That's what we're here for. To test this thing and find out what the best course of action is. Mr. Winters?"

"I'm afraid shutting down the network is many times the goal they're after," Winters explains. "The disruption can cause serious problems with time-sensitive projects and even damage data files."

"I assure you, Mr. MacGyver, I've anticipated every possible scenario—" says Green, but Mac cuts him off.

"I'm sure you have. So, let us look over your program specs and come up with a valid test plan. That's what Mr. Winters hired us for. OK?" says Mac.

"Thank you, MacGyver. And thank Pete for me," says Winters. He turns to Green. "It's not that we doubt you Kevin, but these people are security experts. They've had to deal with situations you and I might not even think of. I have to be sure we're as safe as we can possibly be."

"We'll get back to you," Mac says as he turns to leave. "Randi?" He motions with his head for her to follow him as she and Green are still glaring at each other.

****

Act 3/Scene 2

Mac and Randi are back at the Phoenix Foundation going through Green's system specs. They are sitting next to each other at a table and looking over print-outs for their testing plan.

"We'll put you at the administrative console so you can monitor the system responses," Mac says, "then I'll initiate the attacks from a workstation terminal. You can show me some of the newer ones so we cover all our bases. Sound like a plan?"

"Yeah…" says Randi, but looks like she wants to say more.

"But?" asks Mac.

"Something Kevin Green said is bothering me," she says. "Do you remember him saying something about the IDS being programmed to work with building security and operations systems?"

"Yeah, I do," Mac recalls.

"Well, there's nothing in his specs about it. In fact—"

Mac cuts her off. "In fact it seems like there are some things missing?"

"Yes!" says Randi.

Mac continues, "Like what specific actions the IDS is programmed to take—"

This time Randi cuts Mac off. "When the attacker penetrates the security layers."

"Exactly!" Mac answers and they both laugh.

"Why do you think the system designer is so hostile?" Randi asks.

"I don't know, Randi…I guess he thinks he has something to prove and he sees us more as a threat to him than a help," Mac answers. "We'll just have to dance around his ego a little bit…point out the good stuff…try not to get his feathers too ruffled…and he should be OK."

Randi looks at Mac, then says, "You always manage to look for something good in people, don't you?"

Mac smiles, but drops his head, slightly embarrassed. "I try…"

"I think I sit behind a computer too much," Randi continues. "It's a lot harder for me to do that."

As Mac looks back at her, he reaches across and gently tugs a strand of her hair that has fallen forward of her shoulder from her ponytail. "You'll do fine," he says softly.

At that moment, the door opens and one of the secretaries comes in with two sack lunches. "Here's your lunch order," she says as she sets the bags down on the table and leaves. They begin taking their food out of the bags.

"Oh great, I'm starved," says Mac as he unwraps his sandwich, which is something on whole grain bread with a mound of bean sprouts.

Randi looks at it as she is opening her sandwich and makes a grotesque face. "Ewww... sprouts?" she says. "And what's that?" she asks as he twists open a juice bottle.

"Carrot juice," he says as Randi's expression shows even more disgust. "Hey, this is healthy stuff," Mac protests. "So, what'd you get?"

She lifts a slice of her sourdough bread to display a slab of rare roast beef. "Roast beef!" she says with relish.

Now Mac makes a face and imitates her. "Eww! You're actually going to eat that poor defenseless cow?"

Randi giggles. "It's better than eating the cow's food—that mound of grass you've got over there."

Mac gets a wicked gleam in his eyes, "Oh yeah? Sprouts are good for you…" he says and flings a wad of sprouts at her.

Randi squeals as the sprouts hit her. She looks a little surprised, then picks up a packet of mayonnaise from her sandwich wrapper and begins to tear open a corner.

"And mayonnaise," Mac continues to tease her. "Now there's a great way to clog up your arteries." Randi aims the packet at him and his eyes grow wide. "You wouldn't…"

"I would…" She squeezes the packet, squirting him in the face, just as Pete opens the door and walks in the room.

"Well, I'm glad to see you two are hard at work in here," says Pete.

Randi looks mortified, but Mac is laughing as he wipes the mayonnaise off his face. "It's called lunch, Pete," he says. "We're just lettin' off a little steam."

Pete smiles, which makes Randi relax somewhat. "I see that. So, have you got a plan for DataTect yet?"

Mac looks at Randi and smiles, then looks at Pete, "Yeah, I think we've got a plan."

"Good," says Pete. "I'll let you get back to your lunch…or whatever you were doing." He smiles at Mac and leaves.

"For a minute there I thought I was in trouble," says Randi.

"Naw…Pete's cool. He knows we've been working for hours and just needed some fun." He takes a large bite of his sprout sandwich.

After they both eat a couple of bites in silence, Mac turns to her, looks into her eyes and says, "Randi, this job can get pretty intense. Even pretty dangerous. I know you had all that explained to you when you hired on and from what I've seen, I think you can handle it. I think you also understand that we need to count on each other…So, I want you to feel like you can talk to me, or come to me if you need back-up or support. Yeah, technically, you're my assistant, but I don't really want to be your boss. I'd rather be your friend. And I just want to be sure you know that."

"I know that, Mac," she says looking into his eyes.

"And, hey," Mac says, "If you can put up with my sprouts, I can put up with your rare roast beef…" He makes a face. "At least once in a while."

"OK," she laughs.

****

Act 3/Scene 3

Later on, Pete and Mac are talking in Pete's office. "So, what do think of your new assistant, MacGyver?" Pete asks.

"I think you were right. She knows her computer stuff backward and forward." He thinks a minute. "She's easy to talk to…fun to work with. What's not to like?"

"So, you're comfortable working with her?" Pete asks.

"Sure, why?" Mac looks at Pete who looks like something is bothering him. "Do you think I'm too comfortable with her?" Mac asks.

"No, not exactly."

"Then, what?" Mac asks, a little frustrated. "Are you concerned about the horsing around at lunch? Pete…She's a little shy. I was just trying to draw her out and build some rapport with her. We do have to work together a lot. We should at least like each other."

"I know. And that's a good thing." Pete still looks concerned.

"So, what are you telling me?" Mac looks skeptical.

"I don't know, Mac," says Pete. "There's just something different about the two of you together. You seem to speak the same language. Listening to you two talk to each other is like listening to a couple of talking computers."

Mac makes a face like he's not sure that was a compliment. "But it's more than that," Pete continues. "It's almost like…you read each others' thoughts…"

Mac laughs and slouches into a chair. "Aren't you dramatizing a little bit? I've only known her for two and half weeks."

"How much do you know about her background, Mac?"

"Not that much, but—where's this coming from anyway?"

"She grew up on one of the poorest parts of the Navajo reservation in Arizona," Pete goes on.

"I know that," says Mac. "So what?"

"Mac, she's had a tough life. Our background check shows she grew up with a father who died of alcoholism and a brother who's been in every kind of trouble a kid can get into. Her mother died when she little and the aunt who raised her had to work two jobs just to feed her, so she was never around much for a young girl growing up. Even the scholarships she got weren't easy. Sure she was smart enough, but she faced a lot of prejudice because of having mixed parentage. That's not right, I know, but it's the way things are sometimes."

Mac leans forward in his chair. "Pete, this is awfully personal. Don't you think you should let her tell me this stuff if she wants to?"

"I'm telling you because I know you and your need to rescue every stray that comes into your life. I just want you to be careful about getting too close."

Mac's expression becomes more somber.

"MacGyver, I'm sorry," Pete continues. "But I know you and I don't want either of you getting hurt."

Mac sits in silence, looking at Pete. He gets up from the chair and turns to walk out. Then, looks back at Pete and says softly, "I think we're both professional enough that nobody's gonna get hurt, Pete."

****

Act 3/Scene 4

Randi is waiting in the lobby of the Phoenix Foundation to meet Mac on their way to DataTect to set up their security testing plan. Mac is coming across the lobby as a young man approaches Randi. The young man looks somewhat Indian and is dressed in scruffy jeans and a jeans jacket. His spiky black hair sticks up from the top of his head, almost like a mohawk, with very short back and sides. Mac stays back to allow her some privacy, but he keeps an eye on them.

"Well, if it isn't Tiger Lily," the young man says to Randi as she is standing by the front door. She looks up at him in surprise.

"Gary…what are you doing in L.A.?"

"Hey, I heard you got some fancy job in this high-powered…" he motions around the lobby. "Whatever this place is. Just thought I'd come by for a little visit."

"Well, you're not getting any money if that's what you're here for." She turns and starts to walk away from him.

"Don't walk away from me—" he shouts, grabbing her by the arm and yanking her toward him.

"Hey!" resounds sharply across the lobby as Mac walks toward them. 

****

Act 4/Scene 1

"You don't need to be so rough with her!" says Mac as walks quickly up to Randi and Gary.

Gary looks Mac up and down while still holding onto Randi's arm. "Who the hell are you?"

"This is MacGyver," Randi says. "I work for him. And we have to leave now."

As Gary and Mac stare each other down, Mac moves closer and slowly takes hold of Gary's hand to pull it away from Randi. "Why don't you just let go of her." Gary snatches his hand away.

"You don't look much like a boss," he says. "More like some beach boy. Where's your three piece suit?"

"Gary!" cries Randi.

"And who might you be?" Mac asks. He looks at Randi. "Randi, would you like to introduce your friend here?"

Before she can answer, Gary gets in Mac's face. "It don't matter who I am, but I got you pegged, beach boy. Think you got yourself a little Indian princess here, huh?"

Mac stares at him in disbelief as Randi cries, "Shut up, Gary!"

Gary turns and makes a grab for Randi yelling, "Don't tell me to shut up!" but Mac intercedes and is almost ready to punch Gary. Randi manages to duck both of them and grabs Mac's arm.

"Mac, it's OK, he's my brother! Let's just go, please!"

"It's NOT OK!" Mac yells in Gary's face. "Is this how you treat your little sister?"

Gary backs away toward the door, realizing Mac would hit him if he didn't leave Randi alone. "I hope he's payin' you real good, Tiger Lily! Real good!"

Mac turns to Randi who looks horrified. "You all right?" he asks her. She looks up at him, still in shock.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm really sorry about that." She turns and walks quickly toward the door to the parking garage with Mac following her.

Mac stops her. "Are you sure you're all right? What's up with him, anyway?"

Randi looks up at Mac. "Welcome to dysfunctional family 101," she says and tries to laugh.

"Is he always that rough with you?" Mac asks as he gently puts his hand on her shoulder.

"You don't have to worry about Gary. He wouldn't really hurt me," she says as they continue walking. "He thinks being tough is the best way to protect himself…and me, I guess. He's had a hard time. He's never been able to keep a job for long. My aunt probably told him where I was working and he thought he'd come and bum some money off me. I've made the mistake of giving him money before. I'm just sorry he had to drag you into his screwed up way of looking at things."

"Don't worry about it. It's not your fault," Mac tells her. "If he gets to be too much of a handful, maybe I can help. Maybe we could look into getting him into one of our co-op programs…"

"Thanks," she says softly, "I know you like to help people, but I've found the best way to help Gary is to not help Gary."

"Ah," Mac nods, understanding, and smiles. "Tough love, huh, Tiger Lily?"

Randi looks up at him, impressed with his perceptiveness. "Yeah…We used to play Peter Pan and Tiger Lily when we were kids. But we both found out the real world doesn't work that way."

Mac squeezes her shoulder and says, "I know it's hard, but you're being a good sister."

She finally manages to smile at him. "Thanks for understanding," she whispers.

"No problem," says Mac as they continue walking to the parking garage.

****

Act 4/Scene 2

Mac and Randi are at DataTect explaining their test plan to owner Michael Winters and system designer Kevin Green.

"Randi will be here at the main administrative console so she can monitor the IDS log and responses," Mac explains. "I'll be initiating attacks from the workstation terminal across the hall."

"Excellent, MacGyver," says Winters. "I'll look forward to a full report on what you find. Kevin? Are you going to let them do their job?" He motions to Kevin to leave with him.

"I want to stay for a while," Kevin answers. "I'll just watch the console. I won't get in their way. OK?"

"OK," Winters sighs as he leaves.

The walls to the computer rooms are glass, but the computers are positioned so that Randi and Mac cannot see each other. Before they part, Mac leans over to her and as their eyes meet he whispers to her, "Don't let him spook you."

They sit down at their terminals and put on small headsets that let them communicate with each other over an intercom system. "OK Mac," she says through the headset. "Go ahead, but don't tell me what you're doing first."

"You got it," Mac's voice comes back.

Mac begins working on his keyboard and after a few minutes a beep on Randi's console alerts her to his attempt to access the database.

"I see that, Mac," she says as she accesses the intrusion detection log on her screen. "The IDS alerted me, and I see on the log the attempt was blocked."

Randi glances at Kevin who is smiling and looking smug.

"Yeah, well that was a pretty easy one. Just a place to start and make sure the alert system works," Mac's voice comes over her headset. He tries a couple more access attempts that also beep on Randi's console.

"It's catching the more common attacks fine," she says. "Try something a little more novel."

"Here goes," Mac's voice comes over her headset.

Randi watches the log carefully. Nothing happens for several seconds.

The sound of Mac clearing his voice comes over her headset. "I'm in the main database directory."

"How did you do that?" Randi asks. "I don't see anything coming up on the log."

"I used your little fragmented packets trick," he says.

Kevin comes closer to Randi's screen and squints at the log. "That only got you into the main directory," he says over Randi's shoulder. "You have to have a password to get into any of the subnets…"

Randi turns to look at him. "Excuse me," she says with forced politeness, "but I can handle this. Besides, he can't hear you."

"What's going on Randi?" Mac's voice asks over her headset.

"Nothing to worry about. Keep going. See how much further you can get," she answers.

"He'll never get into the database itself," says Kevin. "He can't get through all the layers in the security architecture. No one here could do it."

Back at Mac's terminal, he looks at the screen and scans the directory for a few seconds. "If I try to use a password cracker program on these subnets, it's going to alert the IDS. So, I'm going to try something else…a way to find a back door in…"

"Go for it," Randi's voice comes over his headset as he goes to work on his keyboard.

"Hey, that worked!" he says with a look of pleasant surprise.

At Randi's terminal, she scrolls through the log on her screen. "What are you doing, Mac? I don't see anything—" Suddenly, her console beeps, and her screen pops up an alert message. "Whoa, how did you get that far in?" she asks.

"Found that back door," his voice comes over her headset. "I bypassed most of the security layers with that malicious mobile code you showed me. But the IDS knows I'm in. Don't intervene at this point. Let it start automatic responses."

Randi looks at her screen as another alert box pops up. "Full system breach – building security response tie-in," she reads.

"The door to my workstation just locked," Mac tells her over the headset.

"OK…" she replies. "I guess that would be a security measure to capture the attacker…" She shoots a look at Kevin who is watching silently, but looking worried. "Keep going Mac and see what happens."

Mac continues typing as he enters the database and attempts to access files.

"That's weird. The air conditioning just shut off in here," comes Mac's voice over her headset.

Another alert box pops up on Randi's screen. "Full system breach – building operations response tie-in," she reads. "What the…?" She hears a loud fan-like sound coming over her headset. "Mac?"

In Mac's workstation, the air vent fan is making a violent sound. Mac shouts into his headphone, "The air vent fan just reversed itself at high speed. It's acting like a wind tunnel sucking the air out of the room. I'm gonna see if I can break the door lock."

Randi turns to look at Kevin. "What did you do?" she shouts at him.

"I didn't think you'd ever get that far in," he mumbles. "But it's only meant to make the intruder pass out. It'll stop in a minute…" he trails off.

"Mac!" Randi calls into her headset. No answer. She rips off the headset and runs out across the hall. Mac is at the door working on the lock, but the air is getting thin fast and he is getting light-headed.

She cannot hear him through the thick glass, but he is mouthing "Ventilation system—don't shut down…" He is close to passing out as he makes a sign with his fingers like cutting with scissors, then makes a whirling motion with his finger pointing toward the ceiling. But he soon collapses.

Kevin is just standing there watching in disbelief. "This shouldn't happen! It should shut off now!"

"How do you get the door open?" Randi shouts at him.

"I can't…you can't open it…" he stammers. "It's all tied into the IDS automatic responses."

Randi picks up a chair sitting in the hall and swings it toward the glass door, but it bounces off the heavy glass without effect. "We've gotta get him out of there," she says to Kevin.

"This can't be happening…" he moans and tries to turn away.

Randi grabs him by the jacket and pulls him toward the computer room where she had been working. "Kevin! You've gotta help me! That thing's still going full blast. He'll die!" she screams. Small as she is, she yanks him toward the administrative console. "Get me ventilation systems access now!"

Kevin starts typing and pulls up the menu. "I don't know what good this will do…" Randi shoves him out of her way and begins typing furiously. In the meantime, personnel from all over the building are converging on the area. "Kevin, get out there and call the paramedics!"

"Dammit!" Randi cries. "It won't let me override it. Wait a minute…Mac was telling me NOT to try to shut down the ventilation system. Why? Because it's still tied into the IDS. I can't shut it down." She pictures him making the scissors cutting motion and then the whirling motion with his finger pointed at the ceiling. "But maybe I can make it do something else…" she scrolls down the ventilation system menu and again pictures the signs Mac was making. "Scissors… cutting…fan blades? Cut fans!" she cries as she sees the command on the menu, hits enter and all the ventilation fans in the building stop. "Now, if I can open outside fresh air vents, we should get some oxygen back into his workstation!" She completes the command and runs back across the hall.

There are several people there now trying to find out from Kevin what is going on. Randi watches Mac through the glass as people scramble to get into the room. Mac begins to rouse and Randi looks relieved knowing he is finally getting air. They finally get the door open and rush into the room.

Mac opens his eyes and looks up to see Randi pressing her face against the glass near him. As a paramedic slaps an oxygen mask on him, Randi smiles, repeats his "cut fans" sign, then makes a thumbs up sign. He smiles and gives her a thumbs up.

****

Epilogue

Mac and Pete are in Pete's office at the Phoenix Foundation.

"That kid was under a lot of pressure to come up with a way to stop a database intrusion without actually shutting down the network," Pete says.

"Yeah, but that was one dangerous way to do it," Mac says.

"Well, Michael realizes now that wasn't a reasonable expectation," Pete continues. "Especially considering what a high-strung personality Kevin Green is. And he knew Kevin had a need to prove himself. He's gonna give him a second chance, though, after he gets some much-needed counseling."

Mac is looking very pensive.

"Something still bothering you, MacGyver?" Pete asks.

"No," Mac says. "No, I was just thinking about another young man who could use a second chance."

"Oh?" asks Pete.

At that moment, Randi walks in. "You wanted to see me?"

"There she is," says Pete. "Our assistant genius. Great job, Randi! You and Mac sure work well together."

"Thanks!" she says and shyly looks up at Mac who is standing by Pete's desk. He walks over to her.

"I'll say. You saved my life," Mac says.

"But you told me how," Randi says.

"Well, in a round about way, but you were smart enough to figure it out, " Mac answers.

"That's what I mean," says Pete, "You two make a great team!"

Mac leans over and hugs Randi. "Thank you," he says and holds her for a few seconds.

"You're very welcome," she says as he lets her go and slides his arm around her shoulders.

"You're right, Pete," Mac says "We do make a great team."

LAUNCH INTO MACGYVER END THEME MUSIC


End file.
